I took great pride in picking out a new baby Betta with my 7 year old today, but after reading some comments on here, looks like a lot of you look down on it because they are too young. I feel bad now because I didn't realize. Not my first rodeo with a Betta, though.... and this fish is tiny but it doesn't look to young to me, looks just about right. But now I figure, shoot, this fishy will have a better life with me spoiling it rather than floating around in an empty, lonely cup. SO since I already bought it and we already love it (lol), we're going to make the best home we can for it. World, introducing......."Tiny".

I am saying "it" because I'm not sure, but I think I have a female. I wanted to come to you guys, the experts, and ask 2 questions: Do I have a female? AND if she is defin a female, can I get one more female to keep her company? I don't want her to be alone, I don't believe any species should live without another of their own, no matter what. I have a great apartment for them to live happily in with plenty of room.

I see no problem with buying the babies as long as you know how fragile they are.

As long as you change the water a lot or put her in a cycled tank she should be OK. I had one for my first betta and she died because I did not understand the nitrogen cycle and thought a filtered tank was good enough. WRONG! Babies are sensitive.

My Petco store is still selling babies even though I bet most of them die.

In the end I decided I only wanted males and only colors that I think are beautiful. You never know what you'll get with babies but I know some prefer the surprise.

Just posted a pic of Tiny, hopefully it is enough for you guys to let me know if you think it's a female. Please, anyone know??????
She is spunky, seems fine, and ate like a pig the first time I fed her this afternoon after getting her home. I only gave her a few baby betta pellets and will feed her 3 or 4 times a week as the Betta pamphlet said. Some of you are mentioning filtration, and from my prior Betta experiences, I know they prefer still water. My plan is to change her water every week or two and replace it with spring water. No filtration, but watching the food amount I give. Hopefully these are all the right things to do!

Whether or not you believe every thing should have company, bettas ARE solitary animals. They prefer to live by themselves, and the bettas they sell at the petstores that have long fins, short fins, were all breed to be aggressive, that is why they will fight so easily. Wilds are a bit different, some can coexist fine with others, while some are solitary. They don't need any other bettas or other fish to be happy, they need good care and attention.

@ Kfryman, I wasn't considering getting another female just because I feel they shouldn't be alone, I was considering it because I read that females are ok to put together and that they actually do enjoy the stimulation of another fish. The good care and attention will come naturally, no reason to question that. If I wasn't willing to do so, I wouldn't have bought her. Again, I've had Bettas before. You should be able to view her pic on my avatar or in my album, I only have one pic uploaded.
Anyway, how do you know they are happier alone? Did you ask a Betta? ;)

Gah! No betta should only be fed 3-4 times a week, especially babies! This is another ploy by stores to sell bettas as pets you can forget about half the time.
You should be feeding your baby lots, at least 3 times a day. Babies need more food than adults actually, since they have to grow very quickly.
What size is the home? That should help us figure out water changes. Once a week will probably not be enough- young betta secrete a hormone that stunts their growth, and need tons of water changes to grow up healthy. (in the wild this hormone thins out the weakest in the group).Posted via Mobile Device

@ Olympia, ok, thanks for the info, 3 times a day while they're babies, got it! Getting up now to go feed her! :) And by the way, anyone in "Petco" that just works there will NEVER be a trusted source of any animal info for me, especially aquatics. Half the time these people don't have a clue what they're talking about and have no business giving out info. They should direct people to awesome websites like this one, with people who know what they're talking about.

Okay well they are more fragile. The reason I hate seeing them being sold, is because they have yet to develop a proper immune system, and therefore the effects of being in a cold stagnant filthy cup is more than most of them can endour.